To what extent do you consider that women's political activism in the Essay

To what extent do you consider that women's political activism in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was predominantly concerened with women's suffrag - Essay Example The campaign to abolish slavery, the temperance unions, the property right reform movements, marriage and divorce legislation reforms, birth control awareness movements to socialist and Marxist causes all had substantial feminine influence and presence. Women leaders emerged in various fields and they by their example dispelled the notion of women as inherently weak beings. Despite this overwhelming tide of feminist causes, suffrage or the fight by women to enfranchise themselves held a truly unique position. It was the domineering demand of the time, as is evidenced in the literature of the era. The common belief was that the right to vote would enable women to attain all the other rights. The fact that the male political institutions were reluctant to grant enfranchise to women constantly reminded them of their second class citizenship within the state. The movement brought together women from all walks of life and drew supporters that belonged to the social high class, the working middle class, the lower classes and even people from the slums. The activists conducted rallies and marches that attracted overwhelming public support and sympathy. Organizations formed by women to advocate the cause of their suffrage were formed all over the world far outnumbering any similar associations for other reform movements. Women showed a sense of global sisterhood for championing the right to enfranchisement. When women won the vote in Australia and New Zealand, their counterparts in the United States of America and the United Kingdom argued their cases as examples before their legislatures. Leaders of the movement in both the sides of the Atlantic visited each other very often and exchanged ideas. Very early on in the movement it had become evident that women winning the vote in any one country of the industrialized west would pave the way for social taboos to be broken down everywhere else. This sense of unity,